31. We all need community; we need to be together. We also need to find our own spaces within our togetherness. Doing so is imperative to Christian growth and vitality. A spiritual life void of quiet, lonely times of inward contemplation and prayer will not produce the fruit necessary for holistic living. Jesus of Nazareth illustrated for us the importance of a quiet time set apart for the care of our individual selves. We would do well to take seriously his example.0#

I played Laser Tag with my son yesterday. I haven’t played Laser Tag since I was twelve or thirteen, at the very least. The Laser Tag I played back then has nothing on the Laser Tag I played yesterday! I’m talking about holographic image producing goggles and digital display read-outs mounted upon talking laser-shooters! Humanity - if it has accomplished nothing else over the past decade - has come along way in Laser Tag technology! My son and I had a great time rolling behind furniture, ducking behind curtains, and fleeing up and down hallways in our individual attempts to tag and not be tagged.

29. Try to read an encyclopedia article - or a trustworthy Wikipedia entry - every day.0#

28. Self-expression is goal oriented. Something is being aimed at. Are you attempting to persuade, teach, enlighten, relate, compel or even repel? Are you simply trying to help another individual understand you better? Why are you going to say what you are about to say? The answer to that question is your goal! Whatever your goal, be sure to frame your expressive form - whatever the shape taken - around it! In other words, identify your goal before you actually being expressing yourself and stick to it.0#

27. 10 minutes, at the very minimum. That’s all the time needed to dedicate yourself to the fulfillment of your being’s holistic needs, which can only be met in relationship with God. I personally find early morning to be the best time to take care of holistic needs. Do take time to meditate, pray, and center yourself for the upcoming day. Start somewhere, even if somewhere is small!0#

26. I am guessing that the people upon which Jesus spent months of ministry were on his mind as he walked into the temple. I imagine all of their suffering, desires, needs, and wants were at the forefront of his immediate thinking. I imagine their plight was magnified by the greed and profit being slung in his Father’s house. I imagine his righteous anger red-lined as he looked up and saw all of the Roman soldiers posted strategically, watching over the proceedings. I imagine his holy fervor was accelerated as he looked around and saw the Priests and Scribes doing nothing about the obvious fleecing of the poor and the temple. I imagine Jesus became comfortable with willingly “risking it all” as he stared down the social and spiritual ills feeding and encompassing whatever it was being passed off as “Passover.” Jesus disproved, to say the least. He grabbed a whip …0#

25. It seems thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years of Christian belief has been discarded for this year’s comfortable fad. No thank you! I’ll put my stock in a balance between time-tested reason, tradition, experience and faith. Ancient Orthodoxy is indeed enough! I don’t have to throw away Orthodoxy to be socially active! No! There is a prophetic imperative toward justice all through the Christian Scriptures! I don’t have to discard Orthodoxy to reach the people in the streets! HA! Liberal Christianity is static as Orthodoxy and Evangelical Christianity is active! I don’t have to discard Orthodoxy to feel good about my life of sin … or do I? Yes, you would have to toss out Ancient Orthodoxy to feel comfortable with sin. Sorry. Our tossing away of our Ancient Orthodoxy and the deep theological tradition and expression accompanying it has created an atmosphere in this world that we are just beginning to realize.0#

24. If you enjoy the vain attempt that is nailing Jell-O to a tree, you may just be a religious liberal! Should you somehow find a way to call the futile act “religious beauty, truth and/or justice,” you may just be punch-drunk!0#

21. Myopia’s Song: There is a river! It exists, indeed. I can see it flowing from here. I dare not get too close, lest I get wet. Yes, it is good for me to stay distantly perched atop my sturdy and immovable stone! My stone is so secure, so forever, and God’s tricky and unpredictable river can’t touch me way up here! Yes, I’ll keep careful watch from my safe distance. I see the river!0#